What Bigard does

Bigard is a France-headquartered, family-controlled meat processing company founded in 1968, headquartered in Quimperlé, and operating 60 industrial and commercial sites including 30 abattoirs. It produces and distributes processed meat products derived from beef, pork, veal, and lamb under three flagship consumer brands — Bigard, Charal, and Socopa — and sells primarily to large French retailers (where it is the number-one meat and prepared-products supplier), medium-sized retailers, artisanal butcher shops (30% French market presence), and catering services, with international exports to Europe and third countries accounting for 17% of turnover. The group is the 1st European beef processor and 3rd European meat processor overall.

The company's core technology is a fully computerized traceability monitoring system developed over more than 20 years, which tracks each piece of meat from animal reception through slaughter, carcass cutting, boning, mincing, and packaged end product via bar codes carrying batch identification, slaughter date, conformation, fattening rate, and weight. Operations are reinforced by IFS-certified sites, internal quality laboratories running thousands of daily analyses, 90 Animal Welfare Officers (minimum 2 per site), and the BIGARD École des Métiers training over 1,000 operators. By-products include 1.3 million hides per year (leather operations) and agro-industrial products (PAI), while international activity is routed through wholly-owned subsidiaries CIPA and Nick Winters.

The business model is a sales-led B2B operation with revenue generated through transactional sale of meat, processed products, and by-products, plus export sales. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market emphasizes direct relationships with retailer category buyers, the Rungis International Market channel, and an international expansion effort aimed at transmitting French meat expertise abroad. Following the 2021 acquisition of Avril's pig farming activities (85% of Abera and 60% of Porcgros), Bigard has integrated upstream into pig production and positioned itself as the leading pig meat producer in France. The group is privately held by the Bigard family, with Jean-Paul Bigard serving as Chairman, and operates as a French S.A. à Directoire et Conseil de surveillance with no public listing.

Name

Bigard

Legal name

Groupe BIGARD

Website

https://groupebigard.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Bigard is a French, family-owned meat processing company producing beef, pork, veal, and lamb products across 30 abattoirs and 60 industrial sites, serving large retailers, artisanal butcher shops, and food service under brands Bigard, Charal, and Socopa.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Meat Processing

NAICS

Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering (311611), Animal Slaughtering and Processing (3116), Meat Processed from Carcasses (311612), Animal Slaughtering and Processing (31161)

SIC

Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013), Meat Packing Plants (2011), Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Pork Further Processing (Cured, Smoked, Ham, Bacon) (AFANABAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Hog Slaughtering (Harvest & Evisceration) (AFANABAA), Pork Fabrication & Primals Cutting (Carcass Breakdown) (AFANABAB), Jerky & Meat Snacks Manufacturing (AFAKAIAH)

Keywords

• Meat processing
• Beef processing
• Pork products
• Meat traceability
• French meat brands

Headquarters

HQ city

Quimperlé

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Meat Processing and Sales: Revenue from processing and selling meat products including carcasses, muscles, artisanal butcher products, cured meats, prepared products, delicatessen, and leather (1.3 million skins per year). Sales through large retailers, medium-sized retailers, artisanal butcher shops, and catering services.
2. Export Sales: International exports to Europe and third countries, representing 17% of total turnover. Focus on sharing French meat expertise globally while adapting to local cultures and specificities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Bigard is a French meat processing company that produces processed meat products from beef, pork, veal, and lamb. Operating across 60 industrial and commercial sites including 30 abattoirs in France, the company offers carcasses and muscle cuts, artisanal butcher and charcuterie products, processed and prepared meat products, gourmet delicatessen items, hides/leather, and agro-industrial by-products under three flagship brands: Bigard, Charal, and Socopa.

Product overview

The Bigard Group is a diversified meat processing company operating as a single unified business with multiple branded product lines. The portfolio centers on three main consumer brands—Bigard (core meat products), Charal (premium beef), and Socopa (value beef and pork)—alongside industrial product categories including carcasses and muscles, artisanal butchers and cured meats, processed products, gourmet delicatessen, hides/leather (1.3 million skins/year), and agro-industrial products (PAI). International operations are conducted through subsidiaries CIPA and Nick Winters. The company operates 60 industrial and commercial sites across France with 30 abattoirs, generating 5.9 billion euros in annual turnover, making it the leading pig meat producer in France and the 1st European beef processor and 3rd European meat processor.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bigard: Primary brand of the group focusing on beef and pork meat products
• Charal
• Socopa
• CIPA
• Nick Winters

Products and services

• Carcasses and Muscles Fresh beef and pork carcasses and muscle cuts sold to wholesale and retail customers as the company's core product line.
• Artisanal Butchers and Cured Meats Traditional artisanal butcher services and charcuterie products including cured meats for butcher shops and retail channels.
• Processed Products (Produits élaborés) Elaborated meat products including minced meat, prepared dishes, and further-processed meat items for retail and foodservice.
• Gourmet Delicatessen (Traiteur) Premium delicatessen products including charcuterie and gourmet prepared foods for retail and foodservice markets.
• Hides and Leather (Cuir) Leather and hides from cattle processing operations, supplying approximately 1.3 million skins per year to the leather industry as a by-product of meat processing.
• Agro-Industrial Products (PAI) Agro-industrial products derived from meat processing operations, including rendered materials and industrial-grade by-products.
• Bigard Brand Flagship meat brand of the group offering beef, pork, and processed meat products including carcasses, muscles, and prepared meats for French retail and foodservice.
• Charal Brand Premium meat brand focused on quality beef products for retail and foodservice channels in France.
• Socopa Brand Meat brand offering a range of beef and pork products including fresh cuts and processed meats as one of the Bigard Group's flagship brands.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% of operators in contact with live animals have official certification of their skills
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cooperl: French farmer-owned pork cooperative with integrated slaughtering, cutting, and processed pork products sold across France and internationally. Closely comparable to Bigard's French pork processing operations, and a direct competitor in charcuterie and processed pork categories in France.
• 2 Sisters Food Group: UK-headquartered, privately held protein processor producing beef, pork, poultry, and prepared foods for major UK and European retailers. Comparable to Bigard in scale, private ownership, and a focus on supplying large retailers with processed and value-added protein products in the European market.
• Vion Food Group: Dutch-headquartered meat processor with major pork and beef operations across Western Europe. Closely comparable to Bigard in scale, species mix (beef and pork), and customer base (European retailers and foodservice), making it a direct head-to-head competitor in several European markets.
• Tönnies: German family-owned meat processor specializing in pork and beef slaughtering, cutting, and further processing for retail and foodservice across Europe. Highly comparable to Bigard in ownership structure (family), species mix, and integrated slaughter-to-product model, with a similarly strong German/European customer base.
• Danish Crown: Farmer-owned Danish cooperative and one of Europe's largest pork processors, with significant beef and processed-meat operations. Directly comparable to Bigard as a European multi-species meat processor serving retail and foodservice, with a comparable scale and a similarly strong traceability and quality positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Smithfield Foods: US-headquartered, vertically integrated pork processor and the world's largest pork producer, owned by WH Group. Comparable to Bigard in pork slaughtering and processing scale and in operating a fully integrated production model, though with a US/Asian rather than European footprint.
• JBS S.A. Brazil-headquartered global meat processor and the world's largest beef and poultry producer, with diversified operations across beef, pork, lamb, and prepared foods across the Americas, Europe, and Australia. Directly comparable to Bigard as a multi-species, multi-region industrial meat processor, but with materially larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• Marfrig Global Foods: Brazilian-listed global beef processor with growing presence in prepared foods and branded products. Comparable to Bigard's beef-processing core, though Marfrig is geographically focused on South America and the US rather than Europe.
• Tyson Foods: US-listed integrated protein processor covering beef, pork, chicken, and prepared foods. Comparable to Bigard in operating a full slaughter-to-processed-meat value chain with branded retail and foodservice exposure, although Tyson is larger, publicly listed, and more diversified geographically.

Regional players

• Elivia (Terrena): French meat-processing subsidiary of the Terrena agricultural cooperative, active in beef, pork, and lamb slaughtering and processing across France. A French regional peer to Bigard with overlapping product mix and a similar customer base of French retailers and foodservice operators.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC9OW0dUSsDTjiL0iDRUvXrw
• LinkedInfr.linkedin.com/company/groupe-bigard

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bigard